Britain, Calif. unite on global warming

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an agreement Monday to bypass the Bush administration and work together to fight global warming.

They agreed to collaborate on research into cleaner-burning fuels and technologies, and look into the possibility of setting up a system whereby polluters could buy and sell the right to emit greenhouse gases. The idea is to use market forces and incentives to curb pollution.

Environmental groups questioned the value of the agreement, calling it little more than a symbolic gesture.

California is looking to cut carbon dioxide--a byproduct of coal, oil and gasoline combustion--and other heat-trapping gases that scientists say are warming the planet. President Bush has rejected the idea of ordering such cuts.

"This is an agreement to share ideas and information. It is not a treaty," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn. "Right now, all we are doing is talking about sharing ideas."

Kristen Hellmer, of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the agreement was "a wonderful amplification" of talks last year between the president and Blair.

"It's just another step forward," she said. "This is a way to share ideas, what works and what doesn't work."

For Schwarzenegger, a Republican who is running for a full term in November, the agreement comes at a time when he has been trying to distance himself from Bush in this mostly Democratic state.

His aides disputed the agreement was an attempt to sidestep the White House. In a conference call with reporters, state Environmental Secretary Linda Adams said the agency is in "constant contact" with federal regulators, but added that there was no discussion with Washington about Monday's agreement.

Craig Noble of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the pact had symbolic value, but "the time for talk is over."

"The bottom line is, voluntary is not enough," Noble said.

The global goal

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called on California to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2010. California was the 12th-largest source of greenhouse gases in the world last year, bigger than most nations.

Blair has called on Britain to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 60 percent of its 1990 levels by 2050.